the financial management practice of mosque: study …
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Volume 16 Issue 1 Volume 16, Issue 1, 2019 Article 6
6-30-2019
THE FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICE OF MOSQUE: STUDY THE FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICE OF MOSQUE: STUDY
CASE IN MALAYSIA CASE IN MALAYSIA
Nining Islamiyah Intl Islamic University Malaysia, [email protected]
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108 Jurnal Akuntansi dan Keuangan Indonesia, Juni 2019, Vol. 16, No. 1, hal 108-121
Jurnal Akuntansi dan Keuangan Indonesia
Volume 16 Nomor 1, Juni 2019
THE FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICE OF MOSQUE: STUDY
CASE IN MALAYSIA
Nining Islamiyah
Accounting Study Program, International Islamic University Malaysia
Abstract
This study aims to explain the financial management practices of the mosque. Specifically, the focus of
this study is to explore and investigate how financial management practices in the mosque. A case study
of one Malaysian mosque is undertaken. To achieve the objective of this study, the researcher used vari-
ous techniques of data collection, including interviews, observations, and reviews of the documents. The
findings reveal that the SHAS mosque has four mechanisms to manage financial management practices.
The tools are performance assessment and evaluation, participation, regulation, and social auditing. This
study concludes that financial management practices are a necessary process to support the accounta-
bility of the mosque. Especially, secondary accountability relates to the responsibility of mosque
managers toward capital providers of the mosque. The results of this study give some implications for
the improvement of financial management practices, particularly in the mosque.
Keywords: mosque, financial management, accountability.
Abstrak
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menjelaskan praktik manajemen keuangan di masjid. Fokus penelitian ini
yaitu untuk mengeksplorasi dan menyelidiki bagaimana praktik manajemen keuangan yang dilakukan
oleh masjid. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode studi kasus dengan beberapa teknik pengumpulan data
yang dilakukan, yaitu wawancara, observasi dan document review. Hasil dari penelitian ini menunjukkan
bahwa masjid SHAS menggunakan empat mekanisme dalam praktik manajemen keuangannya, yaitu
penilaian dan evaluasi, partisipasi, regulasi, dan audit sosial. Penelitian ini menyimpulkan bahwa
praktik manajemen keuangan merupakan proses yang dibutuhkan untuk memastikan akuntabilitas
pengelolaan masjid. Khususnya akuntabilitas sekunder yang berhubungan dengan tanggung jawab
pengurus masjid terhadap para donatur masjid. Hasil dari penelitian ini juga memberikan beberapa
rekomendasi yang berguna untuk meningkatkan praktik manajemen keuangan khususnya untuk masjid.
Kata kunci: masjid, manajemen keuangan, akuntabilitas
INTRODUCTION
Today, mosques play a significant role
in people’s lives. Not only as a place of wor-
ship and a symbol of greatness from Mus-
lims, but the mosques are also used as a cen-
ter for organizing activities. In carrying out
its functions, mosques obtain funds from
various sources. The source of mosque
funds, in general, comes from zakat, waqf,
infaq, alms, donations, assistance, and other
funds (Ayub et al. 1996).
Various sources of funds received by
mosques require proper financial manage-
ment. The key challenge today is to ensure
that mosques have efficient and proper fi-
nancial management practices (Mohamed et
al. 2014). The existence of financial mana-
gement will encourage the creation of
transparency and accountability in reporting
the use of funds, achieving effectiveness an
Jurnal Akuntansi dan Keuangan Indonesia, Juni 2019, Vol. 16, No. 1, hal 108-121 109
efficiency in the organization's operational
activities, and promoting compliance with
organizational policies and regulations
(AICPA 1994). However, a criticism for
mosque management is the lack of account-
ability to manage the accounting system,
less budget participation in the mosque, and
improper recording and reporting of income
and effective way to find sources of income
in mosque (Alim and Abdullah 2010).
Consequences, it will reduce the quality of
management in which the administration of
the mosques are not based on Islamic
requirement (Mohd et al. 2015). Therefore,
this study is intended to examine the issues
in financial management practices of
mosques, particularly on accountability.
This paper is subdivided into several
sections. The first section provides insight
into various researches on the financial
management of non-profit organizations.
The second section deals with the theoretical
framework. Then, it is followed by an expla-
nation of the research design, the case
findings, and theoretical discussion. Lastly,
the conclusion provides a summary of the
study.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Financial Management in Non-Profit Or-
ganizations
According to Laughlin (1990), finan-
cial resources are essential factors to assure
the sustainability of organizations. It was
also argued that financial operations are the
pure form of financial accountability pro-
cess in organizations. Prior research in non-
profit organizations was attempted by
Dhanani and Connolly (2006), who ana-
lyzed annual reports of 100 charities in the
United Kingdom. This study found that most
of the charity organizations provide infor-
mation in the annual report. On the other
hand, charity organizations discharge their
fiduciary accountability rather than manage-
rial accountability. Fiduciary accountability
focused on integrity, compliance, and good
governance practices while the charities ad-
equately addressed in the financial state-
ments and narrative reports. However,
managerial accountability highlights mana-
gerial effectiveness and the impact on
society. The reasons why the charity has low
managerial accountability are because they
follow the Statement of Recommendation
Practices (SORP), which focuses on finan-
cial statements, not on narrative reports.
Hence, charity gives low attention to dis-
charging managerial accountability. From
the research, Dhanani and Connolly (2006)
suggested that the Charity Commission im-
proves its recommendation and guidance to
enhance external accountability, and charity
utilizes media other than an annual report to
discharge their responsibility to the public.
In line with the study by Dhanani and
Connolly (2006), a case study of two waqf
institutions in Indonesia is conducted by
Ihsan and Ibrahim (2011). This study
examined accounting and management
practices in two Indonesian waqf insti-
tutions, known as ABC and XYZ. In this
study, the former also disseminated infor-
mation through a newspaper, a newsletter, a
magazine, and on the internet to discharge
its accountability. The main reasons why the
former distributed its report are because they
perceive that waqf belongs to society. They
need to be transparent in managing the fund
so the higher transparency will lead to
higher public trust.
Siraj (2007) conducted a study on the
financial management practices of state
mosques in Peninsular Malaysia. This study
examines the existing financial management
practices, particularly in the areas of
budgeting, receipts of income, disbursement
of funds, and reporting. The findings of the
survey indicated that state mosques have
firm internal control in the receipt of income
and expenditure of the fund. On the other
hand, mosques are still lacking in budgetary
and reporting restrictions.
Despite there is a growing concern on
the financial management of religious
organizations, but most of the previous
studies more focused on district and state
mosques, which are funded by the
government as their object of studies
110 Jurnal Akuntansi dan Keuangan Indonesia, Juni 2019, Vol. 16, No. 1, hal 108-121
Figure 1
The Concept of Accountability
Source: Modified from Mohamed Ibrahim (2000); and Ebrahim (2003)
(Siraj 2007; Alam et al. 2013; Fitria 2017).
Therefore, this study is intended to fill the
gap in the literature by examining the
financial management practices of a Sultan
Haji Ahmad Shah (SHAS) mosque as a
private mosque in Malaysia, which is mainly
funded by International Islamic University
Malaysia (IIUM). This mosque is also the
first mosque in Malaysia which applies ISO
9001 (2015) as a guideline for the quality
management systems. Thus, the results of
this study may provide a better under-
standing of financial management practices
of Islamic organizations. Also, the financial
management practices of SHAS mosque
may be used as a role model for the other
non-profit organizations.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
The Conceptual of Accountability
Accountability can be defined as:
The duty to provide an account
(by no means necessarily a
financial account) or reckoning
of those actions for which one is
held responsible (Gray et al.
1996).
Scholars and practitioners have of-
fered numerous definitions of accountabil-
ity. For instance, Edwards and Hulme
(1996) define accountability as to how indi-
viduals and organizations report to a
recognized autho-rity are held responsible
for their actions. Schedler (1999), cited in
Botes et al. (2013) argues that accountability
represents a commitment to actively engage,
inform and explain to stakeholders what is
being done and for which purpose.
According to Sinclair (1995), accountability
means a relationship in which people are re-
quired to disclose and take responsibility for
their actions. Hence, accountability involves
the right of one party to receive information
from another party (Gray et al. 1996;
Connolly and Kelly 2011).
Non-profit organizations handle pub-
lic funds from the public, and they have the
responsibility to manage the funds well.
Therefore, one way a non-profit organiza-
tion can discharge its accountability is by
communicating financial and non-financial
information to the interested parties.
Accountability in Religious Organiza-
tions
According to Abdalati (1994),
accountability in Islam is an Islamic concept
that is related to another Islamic concept of
Jurnal Akuntansi dan Keuangan Indonesia, Juni 2019, Vol. 16, No. 1, hal 108-121 111
Figure 2
The Research Design
Source: Myers (2009)
Khilafah (vicegerency). The idea of
Khilafah says that men are entrusted as
God’s agents to manage resources of the
entire heaven and earth. Men are endowed
with spiritual aspirations, rational faculties,
and powers of actions to perform the respon-
sibility (Abdalati 1994). However, the
concept of Amanah (trust) puts some re-
strictions on men to manage the resources
according to God’s will.
Mohamed Ibrahim (2000) developed
an Islamic accountability model for Islamic
organizations and Muslim investors. He said
that the accountability concept in Islam is
not only to spiritual aspects but to social,
business, and other contractual dealings.
The model illustrated that between the
organizations and the investors have dual
accountability relationships, including pri-
mary and secondary accountability. The re-
lationship of primary accountability arises
from the concept of Khilafah and bases on
the Qur’an and Hadith. Islamic organiza-
tions are responsible to Allah as their pri-
mary accountee. They are accountable to
Allah on all their activities which are
recorded by two different angels.
In the model, the secondary accounta-
bility relationships are based on the
correlation between managers and donors
(community). According to Ebrahim (2003),
there are five broad mechanisms to measure
accountability in non-profit organizations.
First are disclosure statements and reports.
Non-profit organizations must provide quite
detailed information on finances, organi-
zational structure, and programs through
annual information. Secondly, performance
assessment and evaluation is another tool
used for facilitating accoun-tability. This
tool is used to distinguish between internal
and external evaluations. Such evaluation
aims to know whether and to what extent
program goals and objectives have been
achieved. Next is the participation process in
the organizations. Participation involves
consultation with community leaders and
members, and public involvement in actual
project-related activities. It may be the form
of community contributions.
Fourth is self-regulation, where the or-
ganizations develop standards of behavior
and performance. Finally, social auditing is
another mechanism of accountability. Social
auditing refers to a process in organizations,
including organization assesses, reports, and
improves upon its social performance and
ethical behavior. Hence, this mechanism
will be used to approach research questions
in this study. It means that this framework
may lead to answer the research questions in
the present study.
112 Jurnal Akuntansi dan Keuangan Indonesia, Juni 2019, Vol. 16, No. 1, hal 108-121
Respondents Position Date Time
Mr. X Senior Assistant Director (Ad-
ministration & Finance Unit)
7th December 2018
10.02- 11.30 a.m.
Mr. A Senior Assistant of Religious Of-
ficer (Training Unit)
18th December 2018 8.47-9.30 a.m.
Mr. B Religious Officer (Imam Unit) 13th December 2018 09.02- 9.30 a.m.
Sr. A Vice President of i-masjid
(2017/2018)
10th December 2018 12.34- 1.15 p.m.
Sr. B Vice President of i-masjid
(2018/2019)
10th December 2018 1.15-1.45 p.m.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design
The research design is an essential part
of collecting data. According to Myers
(2009), the research design is a preparation
process for qualitative research. It has some
components, including research metho-
dology, data collection, and data analysis.
This study uses the interpretative as-
sumption. Interpretative research concerns
about social construction such as conscious-
ness, language, instruments, and shared
meaning (Myers 2009). It means that this
study will interpret the social structures
which emerge in a social environment.
Therefore, this study will examine the
application of financial management of
mosques. It will relate to social phenomena
that construct the accountability of mosques.
The present study uses a case study as
a research methodology. This study used in-
terviews, and document analysis to collect
data. The interview allowed the researchers
to have active interaction to produce in-
depth data and knows about what is going in
a specific environment (Gillham 2000). This
method is relevant to this study on financial
management practices of mosques, where
the information about financial management
practices is still scarce.
Research Method
This research adopted a qualitative re-
search method. A case study is used as the
research methodology of this study. The
case study defines that this study uses em-
pirical evidence from one organization,
where an effort is made to study the prob-
lems in the organizations. Therefore, this
study uses financial management practices
in mosques as the phenomena in a religious
context.
Data Collection
Semi-structured Interviews
For this research, this study investi-
gated Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah (SHAS)
Mosque in Islamic International University
Malaysia (IIUM). The mosques are chosen
for this study because of several reasons.
First, IIUM is one of the best Islamic univer-
sities which have many students from
around the world. So, the existence of the
mosque is essential to support many activi-
ties. Second, SHAS mosque has an excellent
financial management practice where this
mosque is the first mosque in Malaysia,
which applies ISO 9001 (2015) for the
guideline of their activities.
The data of this study is collected
through semi-structured interviews with five
people who were in charge of managing
mosques. The semi-structured interview for-
mat is used in this study because this format
enables me to limit the questions and also to
remain open to the possibility of developing
further questions relevant to the interview-
ees’ responses (Bryman and Burgess 2002).
The discussions were focused on mosque
management and accounting practices in
those mosques.
Documentary Analysis
Documentary analysis is also used to
support the analysis of data collection meth-
ods. There are four types of documents
which support most research, including
Jurnal Akuntansi dan Keuangan Indonesia, Juni 2019, Vol. 16, No. 1, hal 108-121 113
Figure 3
Data Analysis
Source: Miles and Huberman, 1994
personal documents, official documents
(both public and non public), virtual
documents, and mass media outputs. As
primary documentary data, this study
analyzed both public and non-public
documents. Among internal documents used
are IIUM Financial Procedures, Financial
Guidelines of Selangor Islamic Religious
Organizations (SIRO), and ISO 9001 2015
Guidance Document. The publicly available
information includes the organizational
structure of SHAS Mosque from IIUM
website. These documents were beneficial
in enhancing my understanding of SHAS
context.
Data Analysis
Data analysis is the next step of this
research methodology. This study uses a
data analysis model from Miles and
Huberman (Patilima 2007; Sugiyono 2007)
which divides the data analysis process into
three simultaneous activities, namely data
reduction, data display, and verification/-
conclusion drawing.
Data reduction is the process of
selecting, simplifying, abstracting, and
transforming data that appears from field
notes. Also, data reduction is part of the
analysis that sharpens, classifies, directs, re-
moves unnecessary, and organizes data to
conclude.
Data presentation is a collection of in-
formation used to draw conclusions and take
action. In qualitative research, the display of
data is done in the form of brief descriptions,
charts, relationships between categories, and
flowcharts. Based on Miles and Huberman
(1994) cited in Sugiyono (2007) states 'the
most frequent form of display data for
qualitative research data in the past has been
narrative text.' The narrative text is a form of
data presentation that is often done. Further-
more, displaying data in addition to narra-
tive text can also be graphs, matrices, net-
works, and charts.
Verification is done by looking for the
meaning of patterns, explanations, possible
configurations, paths of cause and effect,
and propositions. Conclusions rely on the
number of field notes, coding, storage, re-
search methods used, and the ability of re-
searchers. Verification is done to find justi-
fication and approval so that validity can be
achieved. In this connection, Miles and Hu-
berman introduced two models of data
analysis, namely the flow model and
interactive model (Patilima 2007; Sugiyono
2007).
The flow model is used by the
researcher at each stage of the interview.
Where, the researcher conducted analysis
activities simultaneously between data re-
duction, data presentation, and conclusion
drawing at each observation session. After
114 Jurnal Akuntansi dan Keuangan Indonesia, Juni 2019, Vol. 16, No. 1, hal 108-121
collecting data, researchers anticipated data
reduction. Furthermore, the activity in data
reduction is analyzing through organizing
and compiling data for concluding.
CASE SETTING
In general, mosques are the place used
for worshiping Allah, both obligatory wor-
ship and sunnah worship. Likewise, the Sul-
tan Haji Ahmad Shah mosque is used as the
primary place of worship for the IIUM
community. Five times a day, the University
community, officers, academics, students,
administrative staff, and workers to perform
prayers, and to refresh their mind after doing
many activities.
The SHAS mosque was built at the
Gombak Campus, International Islamic Uni-
versity Malaysia. This mosque was
established in 1995, and its building was
completed on 12th October 1997. The
Constitutional Head of the University
officiated it, Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah
(SHAS) Al-Musta'in Billah Ibni Al-Marhum
Al-Sultan Abu Bakar Ri ' ayatuddin Al-
Muazam Shah, Sultan of Pahang Darul
Makmur on October 9, 2000, and was given
the name of "Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah
Mosque."
This mosque has two corporate objec-
tives. The first is to provide religious pro-
grams as the center of Tarbiyah Ruhiyah for
IIUM. The second is to provide excellent
services as a center for worship, and com-
munity services. Besides, the SHAS mosque
also has a vision and mission. The vision is
to become a center of excellence for the
Tarbiyyah Ruhiyyah in line with the IIUM's
Vission and Mission. Moreover, the mission
of the SHAS mosque is to carry out Tarbiy-
yah Ruhiyyah programs and services for the
spiritual enlightenment of IIUM to achieve
the IIUM's Vision and Mission.
As a non-profit organization, SHAS
mosque receives funding from IIUM and
donations. Every year, the SHAS mosque
earns around 500,000-700,000 RM. This in-
come will be used to finance many programs
planned at the beginning of the year, such as
builds for multipurpose, iftar jama'ie, and
qurban (Mosque Manager 2018).
To run all the programs, the SHAS
mosque manager is divided into three divi-
sions, namely the division of the imam unit,
the division of administration and finance
units, and the division of the training unit.
Each division has its program and
cooperates to make the program successful
from each division. Also, there is an i-masjid
organization that will also assist mosque
managers in the success of programs and ac-
tivities in the mosque. Members of i-masjid
are IIUM students, both from undergraduate
and postgraduate students.
DISCUSSION
The Financial Management Practices of
the SHAS Mosque
Financial management in organiza-
tions is a decision-making process con-
cerned with planning, acquiring, and
utilizing funds that seek to ensure that the
goals of organizations are achieved. In non-
profit organizations such as mosques, the
primary purpose of organizations is to max-
imize the multiple owner utilities (Baker
1987). Generally, SHAS mosque has
funding from IIUM, rental, Friday prayer
donation, donations of IIUM’S staff, and
other contributions.
Based on the concept of accountability
from Ebrahim (2003), this study will divide
financial management mechanisms into four
parts, namely performance assessment and
evaluation, participation, self-regulation,
and social-auditing.
Disclosure Statements and Reports
At SHAS mosque, the disclosure
statements and reports of the financial
management process is divided into three
parts, namely budgetary controls, financial
controls of income, and reporting controls.
First are budgetary control. According to the
Institute of Management Accountant,
budgetary control is related to the require-
ments of a policy, and the comparison of
planning and actual budgeted results. In
general, proper budgeting requires strategic
Jurnal Akuntansi dan Keuangan Indonesia, Juni 2019, Vol. 16, No. 1, hal 108-121 115
goals, budgeted timeliness, and regular com-
parison with actual financial results, and
scope for amending activities and targets
where actual results and planning budgets
will not be met.
The IIUM budgetary controls at the
mosque are started at the beginning of the
year by making a budget for each program.
Furthermore, this budget needs to be
submitted through a proposal that must be
made a maximum of two months before the
event schedule is held. For projects with a
budget of more than 20,000 RM, it requires
approval from the rector.
“Yes, it must. Two months before
the program. Proposals must be
made two months before the pro-
gram. And need to be approved by
the rector if the need for funds is
more than 20,000 RM” (Mr. A,
Senior Assistant Religious Officer).
In SHAS mosque activities, budgetary
control relates to the responsibility for
managing all income and costs incurred to
carry out mosque activities. Budgetary con-
trol will also help mosque managers in con-
trolling the expenditure for each program.
Thus, the budget deficit that may be experi-
enced by mosques can be minimized.
The second is finance controls of in-
come. Finance controls of income are re-
lated to the use of income received to fi-
nance all activities carried out by the
mosque. Clear receipts must accompany all
receipts issued by the mosque. While for the
flow of mosque income, all income earned
must be entered into the bank before 5 p.m.
This is intended to avoid negative percep-
tions of misuse of mosque funds.
“… for example, one procedure is
to enter money, we must enter
money before 5 p.m. When we re-
ceive money, we have to issue for
donors, then the money received,
for example, 300 or 400 RM, con-
tinues to be entered into banking. If
we save that money one day, two
days, three days, even though we
don’t use it, it can bring negative
perceptions” (Mr. A, Senior Assis-
tant Religious Officer)
The third is reporting controls. All ac-
tivities related to SHAS mosque finance
were carried out based on IIUM financial
guidelines. Also, the financial reporting of
the SHAS mosque is guided by the rules of
the Selangor Islamic Religious Office
(SIRO). In this rule, the financial statements
that must be made by the mosque are reports
related to the receipt and expenditure of
funds.
“What is reported is financial in-
cluding income and expenditure
and activities that take place in the
mosque… Besides of that, we need
to report it at the meeting” (Mr. X,
Senior Assistant Director).
Reports that have been made will be
reported during meetings held once a month.
Specifically for administration and financial
division, they must report the expenses and
revenues to the executive director and
Management Service Division (MSD).
“I as a manager in financial matters
need to report to the mosque’s
management. The moisque mana-
gement consists of 3 different
departments … I need to report to
all managers regarding income and
expenditure of money” (Mr. X,
Senior Assistant Director).
Financial management makes
financial activities in the SHAS mosque
even more organized. Because all income
and expenses must be reported, so control-
ling money can be made every time.
Performance Assessment and Evaluation
At SHAS mosque, performance
assessment and evaluation for mosque activ-
ities are carried out at every meeting held
once a month. Also, the performance
assessment and evaluation are also carried
out after completing an event. The commit-
tee from the mosque asked participants to
116 Jurnal Akuntansi dan Keuangan Indonesia, Juni 2019, Vol. 16, No. 1, hal 108-121
give a response to the event that had been
held so that the committee could make im-
provements to the program in the future.
Program evaluation is also carried out when
making presentations to the director, where
the board of the mosque and the director will
evaluate whether the program will be
continued next year or not.
“…It’s program evaluation and
responses from participants. At the
end, we will present the report to
the director’s decision or we will
make our to do a little study of the
program, whether it needs to be
continues next year or not” (Mr. A,
Senior Assitant Religious Officer)
Besides, performance assessments
and evaluations are carried out for employ-
ees. This assessment will be conducted once
a year, where each mosque employee will be
assessed for performance by the mana-
gement division and will then be reported to
the director of the mosque.
“Performance, okay. Every year, all
of our UIA staff will be assessed
every year, and also rated by em-
ployees or supervisors that are di-
rectly related to the division” (Mr.
X, Senior Assistant Director)
Employees who have a low Key Per-
formance Indicator (KPI) are not
disciplined. They who have low perfor-
mance will be penalized or moved to another
department. There are three categories of
employees at the SHAS mosque. First is an
employee with an S grade (Social). If a S
grade employee makes a mistake, then one
of the sanctions can be transferred to another
unit but still in the same department. Sec-
ond, employees with category N (Science)
will be assigned to another unit with
different departments if they make mistakes.
“… the second he had discipline
problems and did not perform. Not
performing maybe he will be ex-
change in a place that is felt accord-
ing to his capacities, abilities. He
will be moved to another place if he
didn’t perform” (Mr. X, Senior As-
sistant Director).
Finally, DG is the grade for top-level
management in the mosque. The top-level
management position is filled by the lec-
turer, where they will act as the mosque con-
troller. The proportion of responsibility for
the lecturer who also plays the role of
manager of the mosque is that 70% hold the
responsibility of the mosque manager and
30% hold the position of lecturer.
“…DG is a grade for lecturersm al-
most all lecturers are DG. So they
were appointed by university supe-
riors to monitor officers. Even
thoigh there are already employees,
but they are not permanent, accord-
ing to terms, 1 year, 2 years, after
that is exchanged” (Mr. B, Reli-
gious Officer)
Evaluations conducted for both
mosque activities and employees are in-
tended to motivate mosque employees to
work better. Assessments carried out on
mosque programs will also encourage
mosque managers to make improvements
and make mosque programs more useful for
society.
Participation
Participation is one of the important
things that determine the success of pro-
grams and activities in the mosque. In SHAS
mosque, participation can be divided into
two, namely internal participation and exter-
nal participation. Internal participation con-
sists of committee participation and commu-
nity participation.
Committee participation is that all
committees are involved and assist in the
implementation of mosque programs. This
participation is the willingness of the com-
mittee or staff to support mosque activities
outside of the job description, for example,
attending meetings and all mosque pro-
grams. Generally, the SHAS mosque has
several kinds of meetings, namely monthly
Jurnal Akuntansi dan Keuangan Indonesia, Juni 2019, Vol. 16, No. 1, hal 108-121 117
meetings, meetings with MSD, and meet-
ings with the rector.
“This minimum annyal meeting
needs to be held twice a year. At the
highest, this chairman rector is the
minimum twice in a year. The first
internal control is checked once a
month” (Mr. X, Senior Assistant
Director).
Also, the participation of mosque staff
was assessed from their involvement in the
programs held by the mosque. The limited
number of mosque staff encourages collab-
oration between one division and another di-
vision to implement mosque programs.
“But each bureau helps each other.
The Imam’s unit assist finance, fi-
nance assist the imam unit, and in
the same case the imam unit aslso
assist a training unit. So, everyone
helps. Even though the staff is not
crowded, there is always supporting
each other” (Mr. B, Religious Of-
ficer)
On the other hand, community partic-
ipation is the participation of other commu-
nities that assist in the implementation of
mosque programs. At IIUM, there is an or-
ganization called i-masjid that is specifically
tasked to help implement mosque programs.
“There is i-masjid, an organozation
under the mosque, where they will
help in moving the plan that we
have done. That’s really important.
We only reserve for such proposals
that we will make. Then who will
run it later that the student and we
will be monitoring” (Mr. B, Reli-
gious Officer)
In addition to helping mosque manag-
ers in implementing their programs, i-masjid
itself also has its program that aims to en-
liven the mosque's activities. I-masjid pro-
grams include marriage seminars, hajj
courses, Qur'an hours, and Subuh Akbar
Program.
“So, because we have a mosque, so
many of our programs exist that
invite students to come to the
mosque. So, there are many
programs. So, there are among our
biggest program every year. Eeee…
every semester, I’ve heard that
there’s Subuh Akbar program.
Morning prayer together, it’s also
our programs” (Sr. A, Vice
Presidentof I-masjid).
To maximize the implementation of
their plans, i-masjid administrators are also
divided into five divisions, namely the divi-
sion of da'wah and education, ukhuwah and
welfare, entrepreneurship, media and the
ummah, and An-Nisa 'divisions that specifi-
cally make the program for women.
“There are 5 bureaus. The da’wah
and education bureau, ukhuwah and
welfare, entrepreneurship, media
and ummah, and an-nisa. The An-
Nisa Bureau is indees female only”
(Sr. A, Vice President of i-masjid)
In addition to private participation,
there is also external participation that
comes from parties outside the IIUM, such
as non-profit organizations. These NGOs
collaborate with mosques to carry out a pro-
gram. This collaboration is usually in the
form of NGOs providing funds and a SHAS
mosque which provides a place to carry out
activities.
“NGOs only use mosque to distrib-
ute food. We allow him to use
places, play power, finance, rather
that NGOs. The only place wi pro-
vided, donations from them”
(Mr.X, Senior Assistant Director).
This participation plays a significant
role in the success of the events and pro-
grams of the mosque. Good cooperation be-
tween the internal and external parties of the
mosque will support and facilitate mosque
administrators in carrying out their agenda.
118 Jurnal Akuntansi dan Keuangan Indonesia, Juni 2019, Vol. 16, No. 1, hal 108-121
Regulation
In carrying out all mosque activities
and programs, primarily the SHAS mosque
was guided by rules, including the shariah
regulation, IIUM regulation, and govern-
ment regulation. This regulation will also
become the main guideline in the process of
achieving accountability at the SHAS
mosque.
The first is shariah regulation. Sharia
regulation is a rule that comes from the
Qur'an and Hadith. As an Islamic organiza-
tion, all activities carried out by mosques
must not violate the rules described in the
Qur'an and Hadith. The second is regulation
originating from IIUM. This regulation is
primarily related to financial problems,
where the SHAS mosque uses the financial
guidelines of IIUM to make its financial
statements.
“..Besides the financial guideline in
the UIA, the mosque’s finances will
be seen by many parties” (Mr. A,
Senior Assistant Religious Officer).
Third, the SHAS mosque also refers to
ISO 9001, 2015, which describes the
organization's quality management system.
This standard makes mosque activities and
programs more structured.
“Starting in 2004, we started imple-
menting ISO for standards. It seems
that management is more struc-
tured” (Mr. A, Senior Assistant Re-
ligious Officer)
Also, the SHAS mosque also refers to
the regulation of the Selangor Islamic Reli-
gion Office (SIRO) in reporting on its
activities.
“… an Islamic religious official or
the Selangor Islamic Religious Ser-
vice, besides the financial guideline
from UIA” (Mr. A, Senior Assistant
Religious Officer).
The rules used at the SHAS mosque
make mosque activities and management
better. Mosque managers have a reference
and timeline in carrying out each of their
actions. So that mosque programs can be
carried out on time.
Social Auditing
Social auditing is a defined audit pro-
cess that is external and internal, where the
community prepares and evaluates the re-
port. This report is related to social (Gray et
al. 1996). Regarding social auditing, there
are three types of social auditing conducted
on the SHAS mosque. First is social auditing
related to managing the cash of the mosque.
IIUM's internal auditors who have responsi-
bility for auditing the mosque cash manage-
ment.
“Office of internal audit for IIUM is
part of cash management. That is
audited by the internal audit” (Mr.
X, Senior Assistant Director).
Secondly, the SHAS mosque will also
be checked in terms of management sys-
tems. The mosque management system will
be reviewed by quality assessment, inven-
tory, and monitoring (QAIM).
“The control is from office of
quality and… QAIM. He will pro-
cess the IIUM audit, business pro-
cess” (Mr. X, Senior Assistant Di-
rector).
The auditing process will provide les-
sons to the mosque manager about how to
make financial reports and report on
functional activities. Also, auditing will
guide what statements should be made by
the mosque. Audit reports are also a form of
mosque's responsibility towards society.
Financial Management Practices and Ac-
countability in SHAS Mosque
Ebrahim (2003) noted that:
“Accountability efforts and
mechanisms do not stand alone
but are reflective of relation-
ships among organizational
actors embedded in a social
Jurnal Akuntansi dan Keuangan Indonesia, Juni 2019, Vol. 16, No. 1, hal 108-121 119
and intuitional environment
(organization atmospheres).”
(60)
According to the Islamic Accountabil-
ity Model by Mohamed Ibrahim (2000), ac-
countability is divided by two, including pri-
mary accountability and secondary accoun-
tability. Primary responsibility arises from
the concept of Khilafah where man is given
accountable by Allah to manage resources
of the mosque. The manager of the mosque
is responsible for Allah on all the deeds,
including both good and bad deeds.
Besides that, there is also secondary
accountability. The secondary accoun-
tability is based on relationships between
managers and capital providers of the
mosque. To manage the secondary
responsibility, managers of the SHAS
mosque apply the financial management of
mosques. First, financial management will
focus on performance assessment and
evaluation. Performance assessment and
evaluation may control all of the activities in
mosques between mosque programs and
staff performance. This evaluation will en-
courage mosque managers to make im-
provements and make mosque programs
more useful for society. The active program
of the mosque is one of the steps to achieve
accountability in managing the mosque.
Secondly, participation from internal
and external parties also one of the critical
processes to ensure the accountability of the
mosque. Internal participation comes from
managers of mosque and community in
IIUM while external participation usually
comes from non-government organizations.
Good cooperation between the internal and
external parties of the mosque will support
and facilitate mosque administrators in car-
rying out their programs.
The third is regulation. Regulation is
expected to become the accountability foun-
dation to control the accountability process.
There are three regulations that are used in
the SHAS mosque. Firstly, shariah regula-
tion bases on the Qur’an and Hadith. Next,
IIUM regulation related to the financial
guideline, which is used to make financial
reporting. Finally, SHAS mosque also fol-
lows the ISO 9001 (2015) and Selangor Is-
lamic Religion Office (SIRO) in carrying
out all its activities.
The last is social auditing. Social au-
diting is a controlling process to make sure
that the manager of the mosque has done all
of the mosque’s programs effectively. There
are two social auditings in SHAS mosque,
including social auditing in the cash
management and social auditing in the
management system. Audit reports are also
a form of mosque's responsibility towards
society.
Besides, the other financial manage-
ment practices are used by the mosque to en-
sure their accountability. SHAS mosque has
three parts, namely budgetary controls, fi-
nancial controls of income, and reporting
controls. This control is essential because it
makes economic activities in the SHAS
mosque even more organized. All income
and expenses must be reported, so control-
ling money can be done effectively and effi-
ciently.
CONCLUSION
This study investigates the financial
management practices of the mosque, SHAS
mosque. In this study, financial management
is divided into four mechanisms. The first
mechanism is performance assessment and
evaluation. Performance assessment and
evaluation is conducted at every meeting
held once a month relating to the mosque
program and performance of mosque
managers. The second mechanism is partic-
ipation. Participation comes from internal
and external parties. Internal parties include
mosque managers and the community in
IIUM. External parties come from NGOs.
This participation will significantly help to
implement the mosque programs. The third
is regulation. There are three regulations that
are used by SHAS mosque, including sharia
regulation, IIUM regulation, ISO 9001
(2015), and regulation from Selangor Is-
lamic Religion Office (SIRO). Fourth is so-
cial auditing. There are two social auditings
120 Jurnal Akuntansi dan Keuangan Indonesia, Juni 2019, Vol. 16, No. 1, hal 108-121
in SHAS mosque, including cash manage-
ment auditing and business process auditing.
The financial management practices
used in SHAS mosque help managers to en-
sure their accountability, especially account-
ability to manage the mosque funds pro-
perly. The mechanism is useful to maintain
the accountability process both primary
accountability to Allah and secondary ac-
countability to donors and community. Also,
better financial management practices may
increase the donor’s trust to donate their
monies to mosques.
The researcher acknowledges that the
present study has its share limitations. The
first, this study just interviewed five
managers of the mosque. Second, this study
mere observes one mosque. Future research
may interview many managers of the
mosque and see some mosques. So, they
may compare the internal control and finan-
cial management practices on some
mosques.
This study offers some implications
for the improvement of financial manage-
ment practices, particularly in the mosque.
Theoretically, this study is expected to
contribute to the scant literature of financial
management practices in non-profit organi-
zations. Practically, this study will contrib-
ute to an understanding of financial manage-
ment practices in mosques. The findings
would benefit the regulators in Malaysia in
assisting them to ensure the financial
management practices of the mosques.
Thus, if financial management practices are
seen in the mosque as a public trust, the
mosque function can be optimized to im-
prove the welfare of society.
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